Sanculottes: Fang's Army
by Liv The Life
Summary: Victoria no longer knows who she is. she just saw a girl who looked just like her shot dead right in front of her. What happens when she allies herself with the man who killed that girl? sequel to 'Bluebells', has some swearing, please read and comment!
1. Chapter 1

"Are you sure?" the woman asked in deeply accented English.

"Positive." I said back determinedly.

I heard a _snip_ and watched as one of my thick, curly black locks fell to the floor of the salon.

"_Tu es très courageuse, Victoria." _She said, shaking her head.

I laughed.

"_Merci." _I responded.

The woman, Caroline, continued to cut my hair until it lay just past my shoulders. It was brushing my waist earlier and was in desperate need of a trim. It now was a tad straighter.

I stared at my reflection when she finally finished and was awaiting my approval. I was much thinner and taller. I lost 25 lbs and was now about 100 lbs, I was a bit curvy before. My dove-like wings were hidden in the folds of my thick knitted sweater.

"_Ils sont très beaux!"_ I said enthusiastically.

Caroline smiled and started to dust me off as I stood up. I went to the register and paid the man there.

"_Au revoir!" _I called as I walked out.

I pulled my sweater closer to me on this chilly November morning.

I have work in a couple minutes, I thought as I checked my watch.

That's right! I have a job at a bakery and lived in a small apartment in Montpellier.

I walked to a small trolley station and sat on the bench. The trolley came and I jumped on to the nearest one, paying by the driver.

"_Bonjour Victoria!"_ I heard a familiar voice call.

"Conner!"I exclaimed as I turned around to see one of my best friends.

Conner was a red haired and green eyed 19 year-old with splotches of freckles, not your typical Frenchman, which he wasn't. Conner was born in France to Irish parents and lived in America for a while before moving back to France.

"You cut your hair!" he said looking dumbfounded.

"Yes, I did." I said with a giggle.

"Shouldn't you be at the bakery?" he asked handing me a water bottle from his backpack.

"Thanks," I said, "Um, not until 11" I said chugging the entire bottle.

"Want another?" he asked, laughing.

I nodded and he handed me the second bottle.

"I will never understand your obsession with water, _Vie._" He said jokingly.

I laughed and shrugged.

"_Attention! Nous avons approche à L'Ecusson!_"said a voice on the PA.

"My stop is coming!" I said, glancing at my watch.

"Um, Victoria," Conner began, looking at me.

"What? Is there something on my face?" I asked with a smile.

"No," he said while returning the smile, "I was wondering if you would come with me to a new club that just opened up not far from the bakery_."_

My face heated up and I felt my face go crimson.

"Like, on a date?" I asked him.

"Oh! Um- nuh- well-," he stuttered.

"'Cause that would be okay," I said, silently praying that my face would go back to cream, "A date would be okay."

"Oh!" he said with obvious relief, "Good! Can I pick you up? _Samedi, sept heurs?"_

"Yeah that should be good." I said with a smile while I looked down at my feet.

"_L'Ecusson!" _the voice said yet again.

"Bye Conner." I said softly.

"_Salut." _He said back looking deep into my bright green eyes while I stared into his.

I finally broke the link and turned around and jumped off the trolley just as the doors closed.

Practically skipping into the bakery I was hit with the scent of fresh bread and pastries. I sighed. I had my first date to look forward to in four days!

"_Bonjour Victoria!" _called the owner from the register that sat on the long countertop that was the barrier from the tables and seats to the kitchen.

"_Bonjour Genevieve! Comment allez vous?"_

Genevieve was a heavyset woman who seemed to always have her blond hair covered in flour, even with the small bun that held it all in place.

"_Bien! Et toi?"_

"_Très bien!"_

"_Ooh lala! Pourquoi!"_She asked.

"_J'ai une…" _I paused blanking on the word, "Date." I finally gave up.

"_Ooh! Avec qui?"_ she asked, lifting up the small counter-door and sitting at one of the tables, beckoning me to sit next to her.

"Conner O'Donnell." I said with a small smile.

"_Il est beau?" _She asked.

"_Oui, un put"_ I answered giggling while taking a swig of water.

"Let us get to work." She said with a trilling accent.

I followed her into the kitchen and she already had my dough out to start kneading and baking. I took off my sweater and put my apron over my black t shirt.

I worked on the dough for a while before it was able to go into the oven and once it did I started another dough-mound for a baguette. The other girl who worked here was late and was scolded but luckily, Genevieve isn't an angry person.

I worked on bread and cakes for hours before I went on break. I ate my lunch and went straight back to work until closing time.

"_Au revoir!"_ I said as I exited the bakery and started walking to the apartment.

The walk is only about ten minutes but it was dark and I had to walk swiftly.

I pounded up the stairs and put my key into my door, #379, and entered the apartment.

"I'm home!" I shouted as I flicked on the lights.

"Finally!" I heard a familiar voice shout.

"Lucius, you can go out in the open while I'm away, you know." I said as he walked in with his shaggy dirty blond hair in a mess and his maroon wings folded against his back.

"Yeah, but after a month, the sights start to get old." He said.

"Then get a job." I suggested.

"I'm only twelve." He said.

I sighed and went for my room, closing the door behind me. The only sign that someone even lived here anymore was the unmade bed. Everything else was kept neat. I trudged to the bathroom and showered quickly and changed into my pajamas which were a light shirt and grey sweats.

Lucius rushed into my room all of a sudden.

"You cut your hair!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah!" I said nodding my head exaggeratingly, "Now go to bed."

He frowned and went to his room in the three room apartment of ours.

I turned off the light and flung myself onto my bed on my stomach. My wings gave off much needed warmth to my arms and back.

"Saturday better come soon." I murmured into my pillow.

It did.

The week passed quickly and, before I knew it, it was Saturday and I was getting ready for my date.

I wore dark warm leggings and faux sheepskin boots with a form fitting black dress over top. I was just dabbing on some rouge on my lips when a knock came from the door. I glanced at the alarm clock on my bedside table and read 6:48 pm. Conner was early, I thought, smiling. I took another look at myself and saw the gothic Snow White and smiled again, flashing pearl white teeth.

"Have a nice evening," said Lucius as I walked to the door.

"Shut up," I said with a laugh.

I opened the door expecting to see Conner's bewildered face, but instead got a small young girl in a tattered purple pea coat. She had dark chestnut hair and a tanned face with light brown eyes that seemed to stare into my soul, yet not unkindly.

"_Bonjour-" _I began but was forced back into the room with surprising force.

"We don't have much time." The girl whispered harshly with a British accent.

"Excuse m-" I tried.

"No," she cut me off, "They will come for you unless you come with me."

"Who?" Lucius cut in.

"Clones." She said evenly, "My name is Edith Haynsworth and I have come to save you."


	2. Chapter 2

My heart leapt into my throat.

"How close are they?" I asked.

"Very close." Edith answered.

"But… But our lives were just getting started again." I said in a mournful tone.

Edith looked at me sadly, "I'm sorry."

"Get anything you can fly with," she said, "We're leaving."

I walked into my room and threw on a different shirt and pants, slipping my wings through the shirt. I packed a couple shirts and thick pants in a backpack and put on a warm jacket.

I walked out of my room just as a knocking came from the door again. I froze. Ever so slowly, I walked to the door and looked through the peephole. I flung open the door once I saw who it was.

"Conner!" I said in a loud whisper.

"Um, nice outfit," he said, "Are we trekking?" he eyed my hiking boots with a playful smile.

"I, uh, can't come." I said as my eyes threatened to give away my sorrow.

"What?" he asked, his face showing every ounce of disappointment.

"I'm sorry, Conner, but I don't think I'll be able to see you again."

"Why? Because you don't want to go out?" he said, turning red, "We can't be friends?"

"I-" my voice cracked, "I'm leaving." I said with a hard swallow.

He stared at me, speechless.

"Maybe, when this is all over, I'll see you again." I said looking sadly at his face.

"Why do you have to go?" he croaked.

I remained silent.

"Why!"

"I… can't tell you."

"Vie," he said, gripping my shoulders, "Who is making you leave? Are you going against your own will?"

I shook my head as a tear dropped.

"Victoria!" I heard Lucius call.

"I have to go," I said, "I'll come back, I promise."

He leaned down and gave me a light kiss on the cheek and I smiled sadly.

"Goodbye Conner." I spoke softly.

He shook his head but I dashed away and ran into my room where both Edith and Lucius were.

I took off my coat and tied it around my waist as I heard Conner banging on my locked bedroom door and calling my name. I grabbed the backpack I packed and unfurled my wings. I leaned over my small window and then backed away so Lucius and Edith could go first. Edith took of her pea coat revealing equally tattered clothes and a pair of huge bat wings. I gasped as she dropped out of the window with Lucius following her. I climbed onto the sill with the banging taunting me as I was ready to take off. I launched myself off just as I heard a crash and a gasp.

Conner might have seen something, but I couldn't worry about that now. I gave a tremendous flap and followed the two figures in the sky.

We headed northward and almost immediately I knew where we were headed.

"Paris?" I said to Edith, "How cliché is that?"

"It's just where our headquarters are." She said to me.

"And who are you guys exactly?" asked Lucius.

"The San-culottes." Edith stated matter-of-factly.

Lucius and I remained in a confused silence.

Edith must have picked up on this because she spoke.

"The San-culottes were a French rebellious force of poor people that helped defeat the French King during the French Revolution. Haven't you ever had a history class?" she said.

"Have you?" I asked.

Edith said nothing.

"So why did you choose that name?" Lucius asked.

"Because," Edith sighed, "we want people to know that we don't have much but we have the willpower to defeat a powerful enemy."

"And how old are you?" I asked, wondering how one so young could speak of war as if she had been in one.

"7and a half." She said lightly.

Lucius and I stared in disbelief.

There wasn't much talk after that. I watched the changing scenery, from cramped, thin streets full of people to countryside. We flew for God knows how long until I saw that the moon was practically gone and we were left in an empty twilight. My mind wandered back to a couple hours earlier. I was getting ready to go on a date. How silly that seems now! I shouldn't even have let myself get close to Conner at all. I knew that it would have come to this, running for my life, but I tried to pretend that everything was over.

It will never be over, I thought, not until we're all dead and buried.

Maybe Lydia was lucky.


	3. Chapter 3

We flew over a vast amount of buildings before Edith started drifting lower toward a large warehouse. Lucius and I mimicked her and slowly dropped to a graffiti-ridden rooftop that seemed grey with age. Edith said nothing as she landed lightly and walked purposefully toward the roof exit. I stared at her wings and noticed that, yes they were bat like, but they were much more dragonish. On the large joints where her wings folded was a large ivory talon that contrasted on the purple and the skin in between the thin bones was not very thick but more of a membrane. They were very large for her body but that comforted me by making me feel less different. Edith turned around and caught me staring.

"You coming?" she asked with her clear British accent.

I quickly walked to her with Lucius at my heels. She walked to the door and it opened easily.

"There aren't any lights or lifts, so I hope you don't mind going down the stairs in the dark." She said as her small form disappeared in the darkness.

I followed her in and felt Lucius' hand on my shoulder. I placed my hand on his and the other on the wall and felt that it was concrete. We descended silently, our echoing footsteps the only sound.

We walked for what seemed hours, but were probably closer to ten minutes. I knew when we were nearing the end when I heard the music.

"Moonlight Sonata," Edith said, breaking the silence.

A seam of light was seen from the crack in the door. I didn't notice that Edith walked over to open it until the steps were flooded with light and Lucius and I were left squinting. Once my eyes adjusted, I saw a short thin girl. What was strange about this girl was that she was in a handstand on a short wooden pole. She slowly let one hand leave the pole and stood suspended there. The girls outfit stood out at me next. She wore an oversized sweater that was tucked into sweatpants that were tucked into large combat boots. Everything she wore looked too big on her or too loose on her dainty body. The girl was facing away from us so she hadn't noticed us. An ancient record player was on a table near her and it let out the melancholy music.

"Hello Natasha." Edith said loudly.

Natasha's arm crumpled from underneath her and she fell to the floor, still holding the pole.

Natasha started letting out a long bellowing of what was most likely curses in a language I couldn't understand. She turned around with a look of anger on her face. Her features were sharp, a long, thin nose and high cheekbones with large, full lips below. It was possibly the only large thing on her body. She had strikingly pale blond hair that was in a long braid and dark blue eyes underneath thin eyebrows.

"You broke my concentration!" she shouted so thickly accented I could barely understand her.

Edith shook her head and said, "I found them."

"Speak up!" barked Natasha, clearly irritated.

"I found them!" Edith said again loudly.

Natasha looked over and seemed to just take notice of us standing there. She stood and approached me and Lucius. Up close, she looked a lot older than I thought she was, maybe 15 or 16.

"I am sorry for my anger, I am deaf in left ear." She said slowly while pointing at her ear.

I was about to comment that she was pointing to her right ear, but thought better of it and let her continue.

"You are the French and the German, yes?" she asked.

I looked at Lucius, "Well, I am French but…" I trailed off, realizing that neither of us knew where Lucius had really come from.

"Yes, he is the German." Edith cut in.

Lucius had a confused look on his face and I cocked an eyebrow.

Edith closed her eyes slowly and angled her head to the side.

"They're here." She said suddenly.

"Finally!" Natasha said in exasperation.

Lucius touched my arm with a clammy hand and I looked at him. His face was one of terror and he was sending me an unspoken message with his eyes. I quickly turned invisible and shifted, walking slowly behind him. He tensed as if to run, and I wondered what we were in for.

I heard a fluttering and saw two silhouettes in the dim lighting. They were both very tall with large wings but the shorter of the two made my blood run cold. His face came into view and I saw the black hair framing a thin face. His dark, midnight black wings practically made my heart stop. I tried to tell myself that it was not him, the one who killed Lydia, but I was still afraid.

I didn't notice that Lucius was gone from in front of me until he was tackling the dark figure.

I screamed.

Lucius took him high into the air, probably trying to get away from the rest but the other figure followed. I dropped my sweater to the ground and leaped like the jungle cat that was a part of me into the larger figure. My claws raked at his face and he dropped from the air. I landed on top of him in a tense crouch.

I looked at his face, quickly studying it. He had blue eyes that were looking at me in fear. I forgot that he couldn't see me. I kept it that way. His nose was slightly crooked, probably had been broken before and his hair was short, blond, and somewhat disheveled.

I hissed at him, quickly got off and leaped into the air, my wings snapping open. I flapped powerfully toward Lucius and saw him pinned to the wall by the shoulders. I let out a scream of rage and punched the figure straight off of him. I grabbed Lucius by his collar and pulled him down to the ground. I strode to the dark person and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. I turned visible and shouted in his face.

"What are you doing alive!" I shouted.

He looked at me with wide eyes, not speaking.

I jostled him, "Hello!" I shouted.

He cleared his throat and said, "Do I know you?"

I growled dangerously and let go of him.

"It isn't who you think it is Lucius." I said.

Lucius looked at me, seething.

"It's the real one." I said.

I shifted back and looked at the dark one again.

"Right, Fang?"

He looked at me and nodded slowly, trying to understand.

"I'm Victoria and that's Lucius." I said, allowing him to take my hand as I pulled him up.

He seemed confused but nodded again.

"Fang, Natasha, Edith, Jedrek." Fang said, pointing to each and ending with the blond guy.

"Sorry about that." I said looking at Jedrek.

He nodded.

Edith broke through the conversation, "Fang! It's 11:00!"

Fang looked at Edith then Jedrek and they all started moving around turning off the lights until we were left in darkness. I shifted and felt my sight coming back to me. I saw Lucius looking around nervously and walked toward him to slip my hand into his. I walked with him to Fang to ask him what was going on.

"The movers." He said before I asked, "They come a little after 11 and we have to get out of the building before they come."

He started striding to the exit and I followed, towing Lucius with me.

We started the ascent and when we finally got to the roof, the other three were already up there, shivering.

I suppressed a shudder at the cold and felt stupid in leaving my sweater.

We stayed up there for an hour and a half before it was safe to come down.

The lights flicked on and I squinted.

My attention went to the starting of the music again and I watched Natasha.

My eyes widened when I looked at her. She had taken off her oversized sweater and revealed her bare arms. They were covered in bright blue and green feathers. The feathers crept down her arms and stopped in the small of her back. Natasha continued her strange balancing act and this time the feathers fanned out as if she were a giant bird with its wings outstretched. She fluttered lightly and let one hand go of the pole, also letting her right leg counterbalance it.

I stared mesmerized and a spasm racked through Natasha's arms and she fell to the ground cursing.

She took of her pants showing that she wore a pair of shorts underneath. I stared at her legs that were also covered in feathers. She picked up the pole and fanned out her arms and legs and flipped forward in the air. She would have landed on her face if not for the pole that stopped her short and she balanced once again.

Lucius was beside me and let out a small breath of air.

This time she didn't shake or fall but just stayed motionless and upside down.

I walked over to Edith and asked her why Natasha did that.

"She is trying to slow her heart rate." She said.

"I don't get it." I said.

Edith sighed, "Natasha is like a hummingbird," she said, "she is trying to calm down her heart so she doesn't overwork it."

"But, how does being upside down help?"

Edith shrugged, "It just does."

I was going to continue my questioning when a huge crash sounded and loud yelling and shuffling ensued.

Edith looked quickly to the direction of the noise and whispered, "Oh, bullocks."


	4. Chapter 4

The hair on the back of my neck stood up. I shifted, feeling my skin roughen at the hands and feet, my senses heightening, and my canines elongating.

Edith turned to me and whispered, "You aren't going to like what you see."

I shuddered slightly and felt myself searching for Lucius.

Natasha had silently gotten off of her small wooden pole and crept quietly toward the noise. She started pulling one side of it and it grew longer. It was a collapsible pole and she obviously used it as a weapon. She twirled it expertly as she continued her pursuit.

Suddenly the noise stopped. Natasha looked toward us and her confusion was obvious.

A loud bang echoed through the warehouse and all of our heads whipped to the location of the noise. Another bang sounded and Natasha stood at the ready. I tensed, preparing for whatever was coming. A sound I recognized rang out. The cocking of guns was apparent and Edith backed up into me.

A bout of laughter started up and I realized who it was before they showed themselves. A group of 4 shadow men walked into the vast space.

Natasha shied away from them and I felt myself backing up.

Without warning, one raised his arm and shot Natasha in the thigh.

"Ahhh!" she screamed.

"Natasha!" I heard an unfamiliar voice shout, probably Jedrek.

I pulled Edith back and lunged at the man before he had the chance to put his arm down. I bit down at the arm that had flown up to protect him. He screamed inhumanly at the pain. His buddies stood unfazed until Lucius attacked another. He punched one in the nose while kicking another in the gut. Fang had joined in as well and was fending off the last while Jedrek and Edith were trying to haul off Natasha.

The guy under me clouted me in the ear, throwing me off of him. I rolled onto my feet before he could get his bearings and kicked him in the face. He looked up at me with exposed machinery on his cheek. I roundhouse kicked his side and he fell to the floor. He didn't look ready to get up and I relaxed.

Someone's arms wrapped around my waist and threw me across the room with the strength of two body builders. I landed hard on my wings and cried out. Somebody called out my name as I tried to get up. The Shadow Man had walked to where I laid and stood over me. He grabbed me by the neck with a smile on his face. Jerking me up, he choked me as I tried to kick and punch at him. My arms grew weak and I started to see spots. I sunk my nails into his arm.

The man's head cocked to the side as if he were listening to something.

"Not yet, I suppose." He said in a low voice.

He let go of my neck and I fell with my legs crumpled underneath me. I tried straightening out but I was too weak. I heard my jagged coughs and turned on to my side so my wings wouldn't feel the pressure. I heard loud footfalls walk slowly away from me. After a couple seconds a door slammed.

More footfalls ran toward my broken body and I felt a pair of arms pick me up.

"She's OK, right?" I heard Lucius say, "Natasha too… right?"

I coughed and my throat shot up in pain.

"Why did they leave?" Edith asked with a thick voice.

Whoever they were talking to, kept silent.

"We should have left already." I heard the unfamiliar voice again and was now sure it was Jedrek.

"She is going to die." He said bitterly.

"No I won't." Natasha's cracked voice said.

"Don't speak, it'll tire you out." Edith said.

"Where are we going?" Lucius asked as we started to ascend the stairs.

"England." Fang said, and I realized he must have been the one carrying me.

"Why?" asked Edith.

"A school is there." Fang said in a whisper as if we were being watched.

"And Natasha?" asked Lucius.

"We'll see someone the second we get out of the building." said Fang.

I heard a door open and cold air enveloped us for the second time in one night.

"I can carry her."Lucius said to Fang.

Fang nodded and handed me to him.

Lucius ran off the roof and opened his wings, flying like he was carrying nothing. I wondered what the extent of his strength was. The others were in the air a split second after us.

I looked at Natasha and noticed her arms and legs weren't bare anymore but she was still shivering and the blood had soaked through her pants and a makeshift bandage that was over it.

"Where's this friend of yours?" I asked Fang.

"Not a friend and not far." He said to me.

I wondered what he meant by not a friend, but didn't say anything else.

Not even 5 minutes had passed before Fang started moving closer to buildings. We followed and dropped on the roof of a clothing store.

Fang jumped off the short building and landed lightly outside the front door, signaling us to wait.

He knocked on the door and we heard the yipping of a dog. Lights flicked on and the door opened.

A short overweight man opened the door and then slammed it in Fang's face. Fang looked up and motioned us to come down. We silently dropped to the ground and Fang knocked again.

"I thought I told you to shove off!" a loud voice shouted with a British accent.

"Oh." He said when he opened the door again and spotted the blood on Natasha's sweat pants.

"This is the last time." He said sternly at Fang.

This was not an ordinary clothing store.


	5. Chapter 5

The store was small, cramped, and overflowing with racks of clothes everywhere. The man had led us through the maze of clothes to a back room with many shelves holding a multitude of bottles and jars, and had a long table in the center splattered with, as far as I could tell, was blood. The dog that we heard barking was a little dachshund that followed us into the room.

"Put the girl on the table and the other in a chair." The burly man instructed.

Lucius sat me in a chair facing the table and Jedrek set Natasha down on the grimy table.

"Who-" I asked before being cut off.

"George Clayworth, at your service, Madame." the man said, taking my hand with a flourish and planting a kiss on it.

"Victoria," I said while my face turned bright pink.

"No last name?" Mr. Clayworth asked.

"I don't remember it." I said shortly.

I realized this was a lie the moment it left my mouth. A memory surfaced from very long ago.

_I felt so small as I saw my mother, cradling my head in her hands, trying to explain to me what I was doing wrong. _

"_Victoria, you must not speak French to anyone." She said, clucking with her tongue, "We are in America now and they don't speak French."_

"_Maman!" I said the nickname in my little French accent, "Porquoi ils ne parlent pas fran__ç__ais?"_

"_It is not their language. That is why." She replied as if she were not talking to a three year old, but a respected colleague._

"_Do you understand now Victoria Dupree?" she asked._

In that moment that I remembered, I felt my face go blank.

The man's mouth gave a small twitch as if he were about to frown but he just turned around and greeted Lucius with a bow. He didn't ask about Lucius' last name when he didn't give one.

He quickly moved to Natasha's tiny form and cut off part of her pant leg to see her wound. It was completely drenched in blood and I felt my stomach churn unpleasantly. Mr. Clayworth grabbed a bottle from one of the many shelves.

"Drink it." He said to Natasha.

Natasha obliged but spat out the liquid.

"Ugh! It's disgusting! And it burns!" she exclaimed.

"What?" Mr. Clayworth said in mock concern, "Scotch not your preference?"

Natasha glared at him.

"Too bad. It's the only way I can dull your pain, so you would do bloody well to drink the sodding bottle."

Natasha put the bottle to her mouth and drank some more of the scotch with disgusted groans.

"Isn't that a bad idea!" I protested, "Her blood will thin!"

"It's either that or have her scream in agony." Mr. Cayworth countered.

After a couple minutes, Natasha was completely out of it and started talking in slurred Russian.

Mr. Clayworth had a small probe and stuck it in her thigh, searching for the bullet.

"Что, черт возьми, что боль тебя с ума человек!" Natasha said almost soundlessly to him with an annoyed look on her face.

I heard Jedrek stifle a laugh and made a note to ask him what she had said.

Mr. Cayworth picked out the bulged, bloodstained bullet in a quick motion which caused Natasha to hiss at him. He slathered her leg with something and started to wrap it in clean gauze.

"Thank you." Fang said to the man who nodded in response.

"We have to go," Edith said, warily looking toward the closed door.

Jedrek lifted Natasha from the table and walked to the door.

"No," Mr. Cayworth said, stopping him, "Take this exit."

He turned around and pushed on a small crack in the wall behind him and it opened, leading outside. Jedrek moved to the opening and walked out.

"Come on!" he said.

"Do you need help?" Lucius asked me.

"No, I'm fine."

I stood and strode out of the chasm purposefully.

Raising my shoulders to gather my strength for takeoff, I flapped powerfully into the sky with the others close at my heels.

Fang made his way to the front of the group and started off in a seemingly random direction.

"England's next." He said.

We flew for a while and before we knew it the sun started to come up. Surprising warmth broke the chill that had seeped into my bones. I closed my eyes and felt the wind hit my face and toss my hair. My clothes pressed against me and I felt the exhilarating effect that flight had.

We were going to have to fly for a while before we even would approach England, but that was fine. As long as I felt like this always: free.

But of course, nothing lasts forever.

The shots rang out in the dawn and whistled past us.

"Scatter!" screamed Edith.

My eyes flew open. I angled my wings fiercely and I rolled backward in the air with my legs outstretched. I gained speed and flew faster than I have ever flown before. In front of me I could see the other kids but behind me I could hear the commotion following and I looked back.

I still, to this day, wish I hadn't done that. I wish I had just went on, never looking back, until I made my way back to my apartment and forgot that this had ever happened. I wish that I had never even followed Edith to the warehouse in the first place. But these things are said and done and there is nothing I can do about it.

When I looked back I saw a face. The face was copied on the bodies of about fifteen… things that were following us.

It was Lydia's face.

My face.


	6. Chapter 6

The creatures made my blood run cold. The planes of their faces weren't completely human but it was obvious whose face they wore.

They had large gold wings, long claw like nails that reminded me of mine when I shifted, and long dark hair. They carried pistols in their hands.

The eyes unnerved me. They were yellowish and seemed to stare into my soul. In that moment I realized something. They were me. Another memory hit, overriding my entire nervous system.

"_Victoria"_

"_VICTORIA! Get up you worthless excuse for a hum- I'm sorry- organism."_

_I rolled off my back and stared up at the man who kidnapped me when I was five years old. He had cold eyes that glared at me with a blue gaze. His blond hair was practically white. _

"_Get up," he said to my eight year old self, "Prototype."_

Prototype.

It rang in my ears. I was an experiment that was supposed to create these monsters.

"VICTORIA!"

The sound brought me back to earth and I turned back and flew as fast as I could, flapping frantically, as if I could feel them breathing down my neck.

Another shot rang out and I felt a sting in my arm. I took in a sharp breath and gripped my arm feeling a small stream of warm blood drip down my arm. My arm went numb. I stared at the wound and saw that my blood was turning green.

"Poison!" I screamed.

Five heads swiveled toward where I was flying close behind and I lifted my hand where the green blood was showing.

More shots and I heard a piercing scream.

"Edith!" I heard Jedrik yell.

We were all going to drop like flies.

"My leg!" Edith screamed out gripping her shin, "those bleeding bastards shot me in the leg!"

I saw that a red dart was sticking out of Edith's leg.

"Drop everyone!" Fang yelled.

Not needing to be told twice I pulled in my wings and watched the ground come closer to me.

I opened up my wings feeling my muscles protest as the wind filled my wings causing me to stop in midair.

I hate flying.

I folded my wings in and took in my surroundings. We were in the middle of a town square with small shops lining the streets. A couple thuds sounded near me and I saw the five standing in front of me. I walked to Lucius who looked shaken.

"Are you alright?" I asked him.

"I'm fine," he said staring at my arm, "It's turning gray."

I glanced at it, "Guess so."

"We have to get the poison out." Edith said, limping toward me.

She glanced at the sky that was now empty.

"They're gone for now but they'll be back." She said.

"Natasha? Can you help?" Jedrek asked calmly to the figure in his arms.

"Put me down." She said with her thick accent.

"Yours is exposed. You will be first." She said to me.

She peeled back my fingers and then splayed her fingers out near my wound, not touching it. Her fingers began to glow faintly and excreted a thin lilac smoke. Suddenly she pulled back her arm and smacked her hand onto my wound, causing me to let out a squeak. Natasha gripped my arm practically cutting off my circulation and then lifted her hand.

On where my wound used to be was a lilac handprint that glowed faintly on my skin. The cut was gone.

She went over to Edith and repeated the process in a gentler manner. She left the same handprint on Edith.

"It will fade in hour." Natasha said wistfully.

"Why didn't you do that to yourself?" I exclaimed.

"What are you say? It is not possible! I cannot heal myself." She said matter-of-factly.

Natasha snorted as if what I suggested was absurd.

Jedrek gave a laugh and pulled Natasha in a hug that she struggled to get herself out of.

"Silly niece." He said fondly.

I stared at Fang and giving a disbelieving look I mouthed the word 'niece'.

He nodded with a small grin.

"Where are we now?" I wondered out loud.

"Near a port." Lucius said, staring into the distance.

I followed his gaze but couldn't tell what he was looking at.

"It would be four miles until we'd find it though."

It was the second time he seemed to see something I couldn't but I ignored it because I couldn't take the thirst that was burning in my throat.

"Water, please?" I asked.

Edith scanned the square and pointed to a water fountain.

"Over there." She said.

I jogged over and spent almost ten minutes drinking water. When I was satisfied I jogged back and saw that they must have decided what we were going to do next.

"We're going to the docks and then we'll be taking a boat to England. It's too dangerous to move by air." Lucius told me.

"Alright." I responded, "Let's move."

We walked the four miles to the boats.

"Okay," Natasha said, "I will go first to the vessel and when it is clear I signal."

Fang nodded and Natasha pulled off her sweatshirt and pants, shivering in the cold. She gripped her collapsible pole and fanned out her feathers. She leaped from the ground and flew high into the sky, her body vertical. She flapped once and glided to the top of one of the masts. We saw her whip open her weapon as she dropped silently to the deck. Natasha looked around then waved us over.

We all took off and landed near her. We made our way to the lower deck then to the cargo hold where we sat and hid. Jedrek sat in front of me and I poked him in the back.

When he turned around I asked him what Natasha had said earlier.

"Oh," he said with a laugh, "she was asking what Mr. Cayworth was doing and that he was a crazy man."

I laughed and settled on the floor. The ship lurched and we were on our way to England.


	7. Chapter 7

The ship ride was uneventful but the most distinct feeling we all felt was hunger.

Deep, gnawing, stomach clenching hunger. My stomach growled again and I mentally shushed it, hoping no one would look below deck. The worst thing about the hunger was that there was nothing to be distracted from it. I was literally staring at the back of a Russian dude's head for about two hours, counting his hair.

I let out a breath. A squeal came from another direction and my head shot toward it, giving a resounding crack of my neck.

"I thought I felt vermin." Natasha said softly.

Edith giggled at this and Natasha glared at her.

I shook my head with a smile. They were still just children. Mutant children, yes, but children nonetheless. I looked toward Edith and saw that she had enveloped herself in her leathery wings with her head resting on her kneecaps. I sighed and shifted myself so I lay on my side. I quickly fell asleep.

I woke with Lucius standing over me shaking my shoulder tiredly.

"Get up. Don't make me sic Natasha on you."

I groaned and brought myself to my feet.

"The ship is deserted. They've made port about an hour ago." Fang said in a whisper.

"Let's go." said Jedrek.

We climbed the ladder that led to the top of the deck and made our way off the boat.

"The Port of London." Edith said breathing deeply and stretching out her arms, "Wonderful."

Edith dropped her arms and spun to face us. "Where is the school?"

"In the heart of London." Fang said.

I stared out into the city beyond the port. It was either very late or just before dawn by the look of the sky and the streets were deserted.

"So…" Lucius started, "Do we get to kick some white coat butt?"

Natasha gave a grunt in agreement.

"Those… Insane men did this to me and now I cannot go out in public. I wish for them to suffer."

I looked sidelong at Natasha and noticed that a subtle forming of feathers was just visible on the back of her neck beneath her platinum blond hair. She already had the sharp features that gave her the likeness of a hawk and the hummingbird heartbeat. I'd only seen her fly once when she was coasting but would she fly like a hummingbird, buzzing around, wings moving in the motion of a figure eight?

She caught my eyes and her face tightened in anger, sensing my pity. She said nothing when I looked away.

"We'll attack tomorrow." Fang said turning our attention back to him.

"First food." Jedrek said to us and we all agreed to that.

Edith walked us through the city pointing out places she hid when she escaped her school in Surry, restaurants she'd steal food from, and where she slept.

She seemed proud of the places she showed us and finally stopped at a bed and breakfast.

"This nice lady took me in, an American, she let me stay here for a while because she owned the place." Edith said.

We folded in our wings and covered our backs, or in Natasha's case, arms and legs, and walked into the cottage of stone and filed over to the ornate check in desk. Fang rang the bell and waited. He rang it again twice before we heard someone shuffling down the steps.

A thin, pretty woman with graying brown hair appeared from the staircase and walked up to us.

"May I help you children?" She asked clear worry in her eyes when she saw us in our tattered clothing. She had a southern accent that hinted where she was from.

"We'd like to stay for one night, if that's alright." Fang stated reaching into his windbreaker pocket for a wallet.

It was thin and worn and probably only held a couple of bills.

"Yes of course!" she said a tad flustered and obviously too tired to argue, "Edith?"

"Yes it's me." Edith spoke.

"Oh! Edith!" The woman exclaimed walking around the desk to grip Edith's hands, "How you've grown!"

"You look just as stunning, Mary-Lynn." Edith said with a smile.

"Ha! Flatterer, Edith." She said with a smile.

"These are my associates, Fang, Jedrek, Lucius, Natasha, and Victoria."

"Wonderful to meet you!" Mary-Lynn said; shaking each of our hands vigorously, now suddenly full of life.

"You say you want a room, right?" She continued, walking back around to the desk. "I'll book you in, free of charge."

"Thank you Miss." Fang said.

Mary-Lynn smiled and started to lead us upstairs. There was a hall of doors.

"I can only spare 2 rooms," she said, "one for the girls, one for the boys"

She opened one of the doors and Edith walked in. I followed close behind and Natasha dragged herself through, collapsing on one of the two beds in the small room with lavender wallpaper. The room was bare except for a dresser and a single picture of a sailboat on the far wall.

"Aren't you hungry?" I asked.

"Not more than I am tired. I will live to wait for a meal." Natasha mumbled in the sheets.

I sighed and sat on the edge of the other bed. Edith clambered onto Natasha's bed and settled herself in-between Natasha and the wall. I took off my sweater, fell back, rolled onto my stomach and closed my eyes.

The dream started almost immediately.

_I was panting, my thin legs running as fast as they could, my arms pumping up and down. This was my first test after they put that syringe into me yesterday. It was a thick looking liquid that they put into my arm and I was knocked out for, from what was told to me, 4 days. Those men in white coats did this to me and I was only 13. I was just moved to the school in Nevada and they had kept putting things into me until they chose the black one. _

_I guess it was a big deal that they were doing this because a bunch of official looking dudes were standing around my glass cell, watching me. When I was injected I already started slipping away and I thought that they finally killed me and I allowed it to come. Not likely. I woke up later and found that I was hooked up to a bunch of machines monitoring my vitals or whatever. Then the test started. _

_They put me in this lane of grass that was bordered by wood planks. I was still indoors so I guess the grass was just to torment me about not being outside. The man in charge, a young man who looked to be fresh out of college with the starting of a goatee on his chin told me I had thirty seconds to run the lane or I would be punished._

_Impossible, I thought. The lane must've been at least 250 meters long and I was just out of critical conditions. _

"_What?" I asked, traces of my French origin barely breaking the surface of my English, "that is not possible."_

"_Go."_

_The small patch I started at grew warm then whirred. I jumped just as it started a pulse of electricity and saw that the entire lane of grass was like this. I ran. _

_Here I am now, the finish steps away, and I feel a difference in my run. I hunch over and feel the need to place my hands on the ground and run on all fours like a jungle cat instead of on two feet. I resist and finish the lane, quickly running past the white coat timing me._

"_Fifteen seconds." he said in a bored tone._

_I looked at him, surprise written all over my face, but said nothing._

_The next test was harder. They trapped me in a room with these creepy shape shifting wolf dudes and I was supposed to kill them. I had no weapons and they were armed with taser guns. I gulped as they circled around me and aimed the guns at me._

_I closed my eyes, and made a silent prayer to whoever was listening out there._

_Get me out. Get me out. Do something._

_I opened my eyes and the wolf dudes were looking past me. I turned around and saw nothing. I looked down at myself and… I wasn't there._

_My breathing came out ragged and in short gusts. My skin was crawling and I just couldn't force the oxygen I needed into my lungs. Fear and panic took over all my senses as my vision went cloudy and I hit the ground. The last thing I felt was the sting of electricity flowing up my arm._

My eyes flew open.


	8. Chapter 8

The morning that came after the dream was heaven.

Mary-Lynn gave us tea and scones for breakfast, but seeing that we were still hungry, let us have some cake that she made yesterday. We ate with grateful glances at her.

Once our stomachs were full, Fang told us we'd have to start moving on.

"Already?" Edith asked.

"If we are going to make it to the school, we are going to have to move quickly and not call any attention to ourselves." Jedrek said to Edith.

Edith grudgingly agreed.

We all said our goodbyes to Mary-Lynn who told us to visit again as soon as we could.

Our group left the little inn and began to move toward the heart of London. The journey wasn't very long but we had to keep out of the air which bothered some of us but suited me fine. Fang told us that the school we were going to was an underground facility on Oxford Street.

The streets we walked through were thin strips of road or cobblestone and people were walking around in the streets or on the sidewalk, whichever they pleased. We walked in a sort of formation. Fang was at the point and on his right and left were Natasha and Jedrek. Lucius was standing behind Natasha and Edith behind Jedrek. I brought up the rear.

Suddenly Fang stopped and I almost crashed into Edith. There was a look of confusion on his face.

"It should be right there." He said, pointing to a huge building with a bunch of people streaming in and out of its many doors.

When I say huge, I mean huge. It looked kind of like a castle. There were thousands of windows that looked into large, almost classroom looking, chambers and lecture halls. It also seemed to have many rooms or dorms.

"Westminster Academy of London." Lucius stated.

I looked at him and he was squinting at the building. He couldn't really see a sign that far away could he?

"It's a college." Fang said.

"Are we to go in?" Natasha asked no one in particular.

"We came all this way," Jedrek said, "We might as well go and check."

Fang nodded and started striding toward the building, us falling into step behind him.

We came to the front doors and edged to the wall where we wouldn't be trampled by the student walking in and out.

"Alright," Fang said looking at us, "We going to split up and search the place. In exactly one hour, report back here. Jedrek, go with Victoria, Natasha go with Lucius and I'll go with Edith."  
It was the longest I'd ever heard him speak in one sitting.

"Remember, _one hour._" He repeated.

He grabbed Edith's hand and pushed into the crowd. When I turned around, Natasha and Lucius were gone.

"C'mon." I said to Jedrek while gripping his arm and set off in the opposite direction that Fang had gone in.

Being in that crowd was like being in a mosh pit. You are being squished in every way possible, jerked into people and touched in the most random places. While Jedrek and I fought the wave of people coming at us, I was interrogating him.

"So!" I shouted over the noise of the students, "How are you Natasha's uncle?"

"I had an older sister, seventeen years older!" He yelled, "She got married when she was eighteen and when I was about two she got pregnant and had Natasha in Russia. I would visit sometimes, but then I got captured along with Natasha."

We pushed out of the crowd and emptied into a sort of square area for the students. There were almost no people here.

"Oh." I responded looking up at him finally, "Where is your sister now?"

His expression darkened. "She's dead."

"Oh my god, I'm sorry I didn't know…" I started, stumbling on my apology.

"It's alright. She wasn't murdered or anything. She died in childbirth." He said, "Natasha often blames herself."

"I see…" I said in almost a whisper, "How old were you when you were captured?"

We walked up a long flight of stairs while he responded to me.

"Almost six years old. They took us to some place in Moscow and then gave us these wings, or in Natasha's case, turned her into a bird." He said with a frown.

"That's terrible." I said, thinking that I probably got off easy.

"It isn't so bad for me, but Natasha is slowly becoming a human sized hummingbird… we don't know if it's ever going to stop." He started, but shook his head and started walking on through one of the many hallways.

"What about you?" he asked, "What exactly are you?"

I laughed, "Who knows?" I said, "I was taken to a school in New York when I was about five years old and then I was turned into a 'prototype'."

"Prototype?" he asked.

"I don't know what it means, but I think it has something to do with those… things we saw earlier."

We walked through a corridor for a few seconds in silence.

"Well, I-" Jedrek stopped.

"What?"

"Don't speak."

We heard a faint sound in the otherwise silent hallway. I shifted and crouched low to the ground, walking toward the corner where the hall changed direction. I held up a hand to keep Jedrek behind me.

I saw a girl that looked a little younger than Natasha exit one of the doors in the hall. This was probably some sort of dorm hallway.

She had a shock of red hair that was in a short pixie cut, freckles covered her entire face, and she had large, wide grass green eyes.

She had her arms wrapped around her stomach and looked about to throw up. Her eyes darted around the hall and she settled on my face.

"Who…" she seemed to ask but closed her eyes as if she was too dizzy. Her voice had a distinct Celtic ring to it.

The girl fell to the ground in a heap.

"Jedrek!" I said as I ran to the girl.

I rolled her over and saw that she was unconscious. I checked her pulse and made sure that she was still alive. I looked down at the wrist I was checking and saw that she was wearing a thin silver bracelet. It had a number engraved on it in roman numerals.

"Eighteen…" I whispered to myself. What was that supposed to mean?

"Stay with her." I said to Jedrek, getting up.

"Where are you going?" He demanded.

"To see what's in that room!"

I opened the door of the dorm room.


	9. Chapter 9

The inside of the dorm was creepy. It was painted black on all four walls and the ceiling, and was completely bare. I stepped in further and saw an open trapdoor.

I put my foot through as slowly as I could until it touched a rung of a ladder. I put the rest of my body through and then remembered something.

"Jedrek!" I said in a harsh whisper.

"Yes?" he asked from the hall.

"I'm going down this trapdoor, take that girl to the others and tell them where I've gone."

"Alright." He said as he picked up the girl, lifting an arm as a wave and jogging back down the corridor.

I stepped down the ladder and shifted, watching as the dank opening grew with light.

I looked at the rungs and stepped cautiously down, hearing the creaking of the precarious ladder. After a couple minutes, I hit the bottom of the ladder and released myself from it. I turned around and saw a poorly lit hallway and walked slowly down it.

The hallway had doors on either side of it, all with a roman numeral on it. What was creepy was that every cell was made out of some weird glass. The people inside were all around Natasha's age.

One of the girls in the cells looked straight at me just staring. She was short and thin, with a gray tint to everything about her; hair, skin, eyes, everything.

Her eyes widened in almost a silent warning and she barred her teeth. They were like a shark, two rows of ivory pointed teeth. I had a feeling she wasn't warning me not to get near her and I spun around and practically ran into…

Jedrek.

"Jeez, you scared me." I said with a breath of relief.

"I took the girl to the others and came back to check on you." He said to me with a low voice.

"C'mon," I said to him, starting back down the hallway, "There is something even freakier than the other schools about this place."

We walked down the hall silently and continued to see the rooms but they became fewer and farther between as we continued down. A thought struck me.

"Where is the security?" I wondered out loud, "Or, white coats or anything?"

"I don't know." Jedrek responded in a confused tone.

We walked again and by the time I had counted 1,000 heartbeats, I saw the end of the corridor.

A single glass cell stood in front of us, the other walls bare. In it staring straight out at me was a girl.

A little girl probably around six or seven.

Long, curly black hair stopped at her waistline.

Straight nose with penetrating bright emerald eyes under arched eyebrows.

Me.

"Who are you?" she asked.


	10. Chapter 10

My breathing became erratic.

The little girl cocked her head.

"Who are you?" she asked firmly.

I cleared my throat before responding

"Victoria…" I said.

"No you aren't", the girl said with confused eyebrows, "I'm Victoria, The Victoria."

"What?" I said trying not to have a panic attack.

"I am Victoria. They told me so. I'm Victoria." She said with the same firm tone, "You aren't Victoria."

"No, I-", I was cut off when Jedrek gripped my arm.

"C'mon." he said.

"No, who the hell is she?" I said moving toward the cell.

I gripped the Plexiglas door handle and was surprised to find it was unlocked. I pulled myself into the cell and immediately heard a click.

I spun around and Jedrek looked at me with a horrified expression. I put my hands on the glass frantically and banged. Alarms went off everywhere.

"Go!" I screamed over the blaring sounds.

Jedrek looked at my face completely in shock.

I banged into the glass shifting as fast as bodily possible.

Baring my teeth I screamed again, "GO!"

Jedrek was shocked back into action as he turned and ran for his life. I turned around quickly in a half crouch to the girl. She had a terrified expression while she reached slowly to her face with a trembling hand until she stopped at where the bridge of her nose meets her forehead. Thin streaks dripped out of her eyes.

"What are you?" She said in a low whisper, "Get away from me and my mother."

I reached to the same place as the girl on my face and felt the bumps and ridges. I spun to the glass wall and stared at my reflection.

I terrified myself. My face was different. It was unlike any of my shifts that I undergo when I turn. my fangs kept my mouth half open like an animal and my nose turned down like a jaguar. My forehead's planes had completely changed and I had raises in it. My skin was not ivory anymore but a ghastly gray white.

"Mother?" I said, my voice high and torn.

I turned slowly and looked across the room.

The chair was overpowering and silver, surrounded by computer screens, looking into all the cells. In it hooked up with tubes was a woman. Her hair was slick straight and had no body, strands of gray littering it. She was rail thin and looked to be dying, but her eyes still shined with an emerald light.

"Maman?" I said in a whisper.

I felt my whole body tense and shake. I could feel the shift happen involuntarily and I was me again. I stumbled to her chair and grabbed her hand.

"Maman, can you hear me?" I asked gently as her eyes stayed glued to the many screens.

"She is not yours." The little girl said defiantly from behind, "She's mine."

My mother's gaze seemed to flutter to our conversation for a moment before settling on the computers again.

"What did you do to her?" I demanded of the girl.

"I didn't do it. They did." She said, "I just tell her what to do."

"What?" I asked, "You're controlling my mother?"

"No."

"Then, what?"

"I hypnotize her." She said with a smile.

"How is that different?"

"She remembers me from years ago and she does what I ask. I'm Victoria." She said, her eyes tightening.

"You are a… copy." I said to her, "A clone! I'm Victoria!"

"How do you know that?" she asked, "For certain?"

"We can change everyone's memories. For all you may know, you are my clone."She said smiling.

"N-no. No, I'm not. I'm Victoria."I said now confused.

"Are you?"

"Yes!" I shouted, "Stop trying to confuse me, I know who I am."

I walked back to my mother, not even noticing before that I'd stood and walked closer to the little girl. I clutched her hand again.

"Maman. Say something. Please." I said through clenched teeth from trying to stop everything from spilling out of my control.

My mother let out a groan, like she was trying but couldn't do anything.

"She doesn't speak." The little girl said.

"Why did you hook her up like this?" I asked.

"Because, we need her."

I let out a shaky breath. "Why did you need her?"

"Her brain, of course."

I looked behind me at the little girl.

"Her brain?"

"Yes, your mother was a genius. Guess it doesn't run in the family."

"A genius? I know she was a doctor or something, but a genius?" I asked, shrugging off the insult.

"Your mother is the reason you were even considered special."

"What are you talking about?"

"There is something called Generation 77, your mother made it possible to experiment when she had you."

"What? Why me?"

"You were the first found subject. Your, what you call invisibility, was completely natural. We did nothing to give you that ability. We didn't even think it was possible."

"But, Fang can-"

"No. Fang has to stand still and blend in with his surroundings. He is a chameleon; your cells bend the light around them to make it so that no human eye can detect you. We didn't give you that. We didn't even know you were capable of manifesting an ability."

"Then why did you take me in the first place?"

"Your mother was the one we wanted. You were just… there. We thought you could have been of use and time has proven to be in our favor.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked with my eyes narrowing.

"You manifested very quickly and then your wings started growing at a very fast pace. In one year, they will be too heavy for you to stand with and you will be vulnerable enough for us to capture. One year is not long to wait." She said with her sickly sweet voice

"What? They aren't gonna stop?" panic rising as I spoke.

"No. They aren't."

"Take them off."

"What!" the little girl asked, wide eyes stretching to their capacity.

"Get them off." I said determined. I had survived long enough without wings and I could do it again.

"No. You do not have that choice."

"Then let me take my mother and, like you said, I'll be back in a year." I said.

"No!" The little girl yelled, becoming frustrated.

I gripped my mother's hand again and squeezed it tight.

"We are getting out." I whispered to her.


End file.
